


Preconception

by Yvi_sama



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blackmail, Gen, No Blueberries, Savage Fox
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-01 17:39:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6529663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yvi_sama/pseuds/Yvi_sama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The hairline fissure the tiny container created in the fox's skin on impact was more than enough for the serum to enter his bloodstream. </p><p>His fate was sealed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Preconception  
[pree-kuh n-sep-shuh n]  
noun  
1\. a conception or opinion formed beforehand.  
2\. bias. 

\---

“No, of course not”, Bellwether’s laughter echoed in the grand hall before her voice turned into a cold growl, “He is!”

The statement's horrific meaning hit him almost as fast as the bullet. 

While the Night Howler – often preconceived as “pretty and harmless” and therefore denied any thought of its psychotic toxins – had a highly effective impact on the mind, the meticulously gained extract went far beyond that. The hairline fissure the tiny container created in the fox's skin on impact was more than enough for the serum to enter his bloodstream. 

His fate was sealed.

“No, Nick! Don’t do this!” Judy's horrified voice called out to him, barely reaching past his panic.

There was no physical pain except for the obvious collision of a liquid-filled projectile going some 600 feet per second (more or less; he'd never liked guns) with the unprotected skin of his neck. He felt the serum racing through his veins along with the memories of the sheep’s former victims. What was happening, what he would- was becoming... The things he would do! 

“Fight it! You are...” it was as much a command as it was a plea. But her voice seemed much farther away than before…

He never heard what she thought he was. He wanted to shout, have her leave him this instant, but he couldn't even form the words in his head. The fog veiling his thoughts had turned into an iron wall of sensations: The smell of warm fur, the taste of berries, the sound of a panicked heartbeat and the vibration of hooves on hard ground sprang to the forefront of his awareness.

Within heartbeats the blue substance reached his brain, stimulating the brainstem and blocking all other regions. Complex thoughts, distant futures, non-kin friendships, the very essence of his being was no longer in charge. Instinct ruled his every move.

 _Fear._

He could smell it, the delicious stench filled his nostrils.

_Prey._

Right beside him. One bite and the next meal were secured. One more meal; one more day. His body tensed, claws extending. 

_Vibrations._

His prey was moving.

In a documentary of hawks - Nicholas Wilde had once seen on TV and might or might not have remembered given different circumstances – the commentator had described the hunt as “The art of killing”. Being in his right mind, the fox now would have snorted disdainfully and may have found a couple of choice words regarding the topic. The hunt wasn’t an art; it was a necessity. 

Joins cracked as the hunter’s body embraced the feral postures it hadn’t been called upon before. Muscles stretched and shortened in unaccustomed ways. On eyelevel with the prey, he had a clear view of it. Slited pupils contracted whenever a ray of light penetrated his shadowy cover of artificial plant life.

The smell of fear and blood was almost enough to overload his newly honed senses. He pounced mindlessly when the fawn was tossed at him, sinking his sharp teeth and claws into the dusty fur. Adrenaline rushed his system when excitement and frustration fought for the upper hand. The ecstasy of the catch was soon out ruled by the anger of the thing having exploded in white tufts that obviously were not meat. He bared his fangs with a guttural growl.

His game had maneuvered itself into a corner. Very carefully he pursued it.

There was never such a thing as ‘easy prey’. Desperation could turn even the most wounded rodent into a real threat. As a civilized mammal, Nick had no conscious knowledge of this, but in a world where a small predator was just as easily turned into prey himself, this information was (all preconception aside) important enough to get stored in his very DNA. 

Leaning over the bunny, feeling the heat radiating from her body, he took a deep breath in preparation and

froze. Something was off. Slowly, he backed off several steps.

The creature smelled like him! This marking of kinship confused the primal brain for a moment. Just long enough for him to notice the other occupants of the area.

The presumption that a ‘savage animal’ was aggressive by default had been a common mistake. Neither the culprit nor the police had seen the need to think past this point. Confinement, hunger, territorial behavior, and self defense would have created a more diverse analysis of feral animal behavior.

A stomach moderately filled with blueberries was a healthy foundation for more prioritized actions. Once his one-minded focus had been broken, the fox’s head snapped up, eying the shouting white mammal overhead. 

In modern Zootopia, most animals were of the opinion that sheep were dedicated, easily satisfied, submissive and team oriented employees. The prehistoric-oriented predator on the other hand made no such presumptions as he saw himself confronted with his peculiarity. The smell and physical structure clearly identified it as prey, an image distributed by the confident posture and predatory aura.

Without much ado, marked bunny forgotten, the agile hunter leaped from one hollow stone to the next until he reached the pit’s lip. Standing before the bipedal sheep – flews raised, all hairs standing on end to appear more massive – he waited…


	2. Chapter 2

The fist harbinger of awareness was an odd floating sensation in pitch darkness. 

‘Bunnies can’t float in midair’ a determined voice commented pragmatically.

“You can be… anything… in… Zootopia…” she argued in a slur, only slightly coherent. 

“Judy..? Judes! Bonnie, she is waking!” another voice entered the conversation. It was loud and emotional and very welcome.

“Dad…?” she felt her hand being squeezed and followed his voice to the waking world.

The world outside her head was bright. Blindingly so. After her parents had fussed about her well-being, scolded her for her recklessness – _Oh, what had she been thinking?! A tiny bunny in a city this humongous, they had been right all along!_ – and then fussed some more, she felt exhausted and achy. She would confess any crime right now just to be left alone.

She loved her parents; tremendously. And she was glad they had come all the way from the farm to see her after… Her mind went blank. Her nose wrinkled in concentration, head tilted to the side. She wrung her hands absent-mindedly – anchoring herself to reality – while desperately searching for the last time she had infallibly been able to tell fact from fiction. It was harder than she cared to admit.

“Stu…” Mrs. Hopps lay a calming hand on her husband’s shoulder, interrupting his renewed monologue, how he was just a carrot-width away from flicking their daughter over his shoulder and bringing her back to the warren like a run-away kitten. 

As a mother of three hundred and twelve, she had enough experience with reading even the slightest discomfort in any of them. From the way her daughter’s unfocused eyes and frustrated frown differed from her normal confident and spunky ways, she was disgruntled Stu hadn’t noticed it right away as well.

“Mom, what happened?” she looked so tiny in the huge hospital bed, with her ears hanging limply down that her mother immediately closed the distance to embrace her. Judy allowed herself to be held. Held in a way she had not been since the day she’d realized she needed to show everyone just how independent and tough she was in order to pursue her dream. It felt incredibly good.

While stroking her girl’s head, Bonnie Hopps tried to normalize her heart rate. A futile attempt as she realized her child’s hearing was just as keen as her own. She sighed and looked meaningfully at her husband, who was so utterly shocked at being called upon this particular duty, that he knocked the chair he was sitting on over, in an attempt to hide the newspaper laying openly on the bedside table.

But the damage had already been done.

The gnawing feeling of having been inactive for far too long changed into an outright panic as Judy’s eyes took in the headline: SAVAGE FOX: STILL MISSING!

The world spun around her. Savage. Mr. Otterton. The Night Howler. Train car. Explosion. Museum. Pit. Nick.

“Nick!” she gasped, wiggling out of the now- restraining arms and throwing her blanket aside.

“Judith!” “Miss Hopps, you mustn’t stand up!” Her parents’ shout of surprise was drowned by the firm exclamation of a just entering nurse. 

“Hello, my name is Nurse Polly” as the name tag introduced her, was a sturdy porcupine woman with a no-nonsense attitude that was in no way inferior to Chief Bogo’s. Before the young bunny could make sense of the new situation, she had been placed back under the ladybug-print covers and her parents shooed outside with a strict reprimand about upsetting her patient. The three bunnies said their quick good-byes under Nurse Polly’s watchful eyes, the couple promising to return first thing tomorrow. 

All the questions in Judy’s mind remained unanswered. At least she managed to learn she’d been treated in the Zootopia Central Hospital for the last ten days, after losing a lot of blood and fighting an infection resulting from a bite-wound. 

“A fox-bite, mind you child” the nurse pointed out while changing the infusion bag next to her.

The young woman recoiled at the thought. No… this couldn’t have been what had happened… could it? She tried to argue about this, her memories might have been hazy in most parts, but she was very sure she had not been bitten by... him. A lump formed in her throat and her eyes stung. She didn’t want to believe it had happened this way. Because it would have been her fault for tricking him into the case in the first place. Dictaphone-pen or not, the blackmail had been a bluff; one she was not at all proud of in retrospect.

She would have been more adamant about denying the accusation, had it not been for the nurse’s sh-ing and enthusiastically praised ‘actions of prey-protection’ Mayor Bellwether had installed within hours after the attack on herself and the city’s most valued police officer inside the museum.

“That Savage may still be out there, hun’, but don’t ya worry: No despicable pred will ever set foot in this house again! Sleep now, the medicine will help ya.”

The reassurance made the bunny’s stomach knot tightly together. She didn’t know how but once again, she had been used to create a rift between prey and predators on Bellwether’s behalf. Her only hope was that Nick – wherever he was – had escaped her greedy clutches. 

At least for now…

\---

_Being a prey animal in the company of civilized predators was never a reassuring feeling. Being eye to eye with a savage predator was not a situation Dawn Bellwether had hoped to ever find herself in. Why before mentioned predator was in front of her, outside the pit, instead of mauling a ridiculously weakened bunny, was beyond her._

_‘What had gone wrong?!’_

_Her façade of control and anger slipped, revealing the fear she truly felt .It had been visible for no longer than the blink of an eye and yet it had been enough. Before the dump ramps overcame their shock, the fox had collected his paws underneath his body._

_‘Fools, incompetent fools had happened!’_

_When she called out for help, her voice betrayed none of her thought._

The ringing phone on her nightstand startled the ewe out of her fitful slumber. Disoriented at first, Dawn Bellwether recovered quickly, fumbled a little with her glasses before deciphering the too-bright digits on the display. 805-555-0127. She groaned before answering with a mere grunt.

“S-sorry boss… _baa_ Ma’am! This is Doug _meh_ and I know I wasn’t _mehbaa_ supposed to call you directly… Bu- _baa_ -t there is kind of a _meeeh_ situation with the _hmmm_ plants…”

She grated her teeth in suppressed anger as she continued to listen to her cousin’s hardly coherent explanation. No wonder everyone and their pet-bug thought sheep were dumb and oafish. It seemed bipedality and increased brain-capacity didn’t obligatorily keep company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, you guys are amazing! Thanks to everyone who left a kudo or comment :-D
> 
> I will try to update as soon as possible, but since I have to write during my baby's naptimes, it may take a few days. The best way of speeding things up a bit are reviews ;-)
> 
> Have a great day!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and leave a little comment at the end!
> 
> PS: Please let me know if you find grammatical and/or spelling errors. I try to catch them before posts but as a non-native speaker there are always some I might not even recognize while proof-reading.

It was dark and it was late. Exactly the kind of circumstance he hated. While all the other offices in the hallway had turned dark hours ago, his sturdy old oil lamp still burned. 

As it is often the case when struggling with difficult decisions, the mind begins to wander. And this was the sole reason he asked himself, whether the semi-open fire might have been an actual violation of the fire regulations. No one had ever complained about it, but who would be foolish enough to attempt to put a 2,000 lb cape buffalo in his place? Much less the chief of ZPD?

Tonight, there were two kinds of files on his desk. A thankfully small stack of recent “Savage Activities”, which regrettably included his newest officer and an remarkably assertive civilian, who had turned from key-witness to fugitive feral predator in a matter of hours, and a tall pile of personnel records. All of them belonged to fine officers he had known and respected for years. Every single one of them: a predator. 

A lightning bold managed to lighten the room for a heartbeat, but not the chief’s mood. He had sworn to always uphold the law, no matter who might be affected by it. But the new set of laws the mayor had initiated did not sit well with him. 

Could there be such a thing as an unjust law? 

Unfit to represent the law. Too biased to be non-partisan. An unpredictable liability. Bellwether’s words rang in his ears as he kept refusing to associate them with the pictures of his subordinates. 

He groaned, pressing his thumb against his boss. This fusion of bones at the base of the horns always reminded him of his responsibilities: He was the Boss. All he needed before leaving the office were a few Loopholes for his officers. 

\---  
Morning came fast and before Judy had finished her breakfast she heard a commotion in the hallway. Many sets of feed shuffled on the floor, an organized chaos of voices talked over each other, while trying to only be as loud as necessary. There was also a strangely familiar rhythm of clicking-noises.

She had half a mind to hop out of her bed to investigate but found the bed set on the highest setting possible from the floor and the remote out of reach. Under normal circumstances, this would only count as a minor inconvenience but with her leg in a heavy cast and the pain-killers still resting in a small box next to a glass of carrot-juice, it was enough to make her change her mind. Instead, she strained her ears.

“My dear members of the press”, a stern, yet benevolent voice began, waiting for the other voices to die down, “must I inform you that this is a hospital? I arranged for a press-conference in three days, where I will be sharing my plans to further introduce the new regulations to protect the prey-population of Zootopia. Today I’m here on behalf of our most priced police-officer Miss Judy Hopps. A fellow prey animal, whose bravery saved my life.” the voice ended on a sincere and grateful note.

The bunny tried her best to keep the meager breakfast in, while nausea and panic threatened to upset her stomach. This couldn’t be!

But sure enough, after dismissing the reporters, Mayor Bellwether entered her sickroom. A long silence followed. She wasn’t sure what she had expected how this meeting would start, but certainly not like this.

The small ewe, with her usual wool-do and thick glasses made her way slowly towards her bed in a wheelchair. 

Judy felt a pang of pity in her heart, one she instantly tried to counter with images of Mr. Otterton, his family and all the other innocents who had to suffer because of this one power-hungry animal.

“You shot Nicholas Wilde and more than fourteen other predators with night howler extract.” the younger mammal accused without preamble.

The sheep made a show out of fiddling with the pale-pink wool-blanket covering her lap and legs, looking out of the window and slowly turning her head to the inhabitant of the room. Her head tilted ever so slightly and a pleasant smile played on her lips.

“Straight to the core, sweetheart?” she sighed in disappointment, “I thought we might small talk a little. You know, from one victim to another?”

The bunny’s fur bristled at the sweet talk, her buck teeth becoming visible in anger. “You can small-talk with your inmates, for I will –“

“Tell the whole world about psychotic plants, snipers and the mastermind behind everything being an invalid little sheep?” Dawn Bellwether asked patronizingly, “Go ahead. If you’re lucky they will blame your paranoia on your mental health; post traumatic stress disorder can truly mess with one’s head.” she pointed meaningfully to the clipboard at the end of the rodent’s bed. 

Judy’s ears turned red with indignation, she sat ramrod straight and her eyes glared openly at the mammal across from her. As soon as she got her hands on her carrot pen… !

“Oh, I brought you a present!” she Mayor announced cheerfully, pressing the remote on the hospital bed to lower her interlocutor at eye level. A light, paw-sized object with an orange ribbon dropped into the bunny’s lap. 

“Helloooo, Officer Hopps, I hope you’ll feel better soooooon! Your Mayor, Dawn Bellwether!” the pen-recorder announced as the landing provided enough force to activate the play button.

The bunny’s ears fell north like a lead ball. Tears of many emotions shot into her eyes. Anger, humiliation, failure, helplessness. But not defeat… not yet.

The ungulate looked delighted as the small medical dispenser on the table made a rattling noise when she shook it. She appeared almost reluctant to turn her attention away from it.

“Well that taken aside, you might also want to be mindful of the things most important in life… like your family.”

“What have you done?!” Judy snarled, getting mighty sick of this game. A game she was losing; losing badly.

The other female managed to look genuine hurt. “Why, nothing! I just thought you’d like to know that your parents had to leave for home a little earlier. You see, tiny little bunnies can get scared so easily by ambitious reporters. And since there is no one left in this big city to tell you, I felt compelled to ease your worries, my dear Judy.”

“What do you want?” the first bunny officer demanded, hating her voice for sounding weak and small. 

“Not being in a wheelchair.” The sheep deadpanned, “And from you…? Nothing really. Do your nice little duty as police officer and smile for the press. Then your blackmail, mob connections and general off-protocol activities will remain our sweet little secret.” she took delight in seeing the last flicker of naïveté die in the girl’s eyes. 

In the end, she truly was nothing more than a dumb bunny. 

Judy hid her face and traitorous tears in her hands. It had always been a mystery to her, what could possibly turn an honest cop into a mere puppet and had disdainfully (and quite arrogantly) sworn she’d never betray her oath to always let justice prevail. Now she realized that everything one held dear was nothing but collateral damage to those having the upper hand.

She nodded once in defeat.

With a smile, Bellwether raised the bed back to the highest position and leisurely wheeled herself back to the door.

“You know? We are very much alike, you and I. We had to work hard to prove ourselves worthy and will do anything to defend our achievements.”


	4. Chapter 4

\- Ten days ago.

Bam.   
Bam, bam.   
Bam, bam, bam. 

The ground shook as a gigantic gray food hit the ground almost directly next to his hiding place. The invaders’ smells were mingled so thoroughly that they almost seized to be individuals. While this was not uncommon in herds, family groups and other close groupings of the same kind, it made little sense to the part of his brain currently in charge. It was impossible for him to get an accurate picture of the threat that way.

_The invaders had come out of nowhere. Large predators and even larger prey animals on two legs. Attracted by the white prey’s scream._

_Before being introduced to the Night Howler extract, the fox’s mind would have immediately thought of the bloodied and unmoving rodent lying in the pit, but that had been before. There was only one agenda now: his own survival. He had growled in irritation of having to leave the hunt without gain, right before a small projectile winged his shoulder, and forced a yelp of pain from his muzzle._

The intruder finally left the immediate area. For a short while, he would be save in the unnatural landscape with its unnatural and dusty pelts. He fell into another fitful sleep with an empty stomach. Something had to happen. 

\---

\- Present.

Judy spent the next three hours arguing with the medical staff (there really was no valid reason to keep her, as long as she continued with her medication), packing her meager possessions into the small suitcase her parents had left for her (alongside a Get-Better-Soon-Card with all her sibling's signatures, which stood taller than her) and waiting.

The last part she dreaded the most. Being stuck in this room where she could hear Bellwether's words echoing from the walls – figuratively speaking, of course – all by herself with nothing to focus on but her own dark thoughts, was terrifying. She would have left by herself, had HQ not given strict orders that she had to wait for an escort to drive her to her apartment. They would come for her as soon as two officers could be dispatched.

Therefore, she busied herself with reciting all her siblings' names in alphabetically order. This should be enough to keep her thinking about her predicament for some time.

Officers McHorn and Trunkaby arrived to find their newest colleague much changed from her usual persona. Truthfully, neither of them had taken what short time they had had to get to know the young rabbit, expecting her to quit a lot sooner and for entirely different reasons than she had two weeks ago. But the withdrawn, droopy eared mammal in front of them was simply too removed from the overly exited rookie they had frowned upon in the bullpen. It was a devastating sight.

Judy groaned in dismay as the two huge grey animals pushed – or rather lightly nudged – the bunny-sized wheelchair through the main entrance of the hospital just to be greeted by a none too small group of reporters. She was positive she'd once again been set up by the mayor. Showing her weak, the plastered leg propped up in the wheelchair and flanked by a rhino and an elephant to emphasize her fragility. All that reeked of a campaign to belittle her in the public's eye.

McHorn unceremonious lifted Judy along with her chair unto his arms and stomped towards the waiting car. Under different circumstances, she might have found this mortifying yet kind of funny, but today she found nothing funny about it. Francine followed in their wake, trying desperately not to crush the ridiculously tiny suitcase in her hands. It reminded Judy of a fox trying to eat a shrew-sized slice of cake with a matching fork... The corner of her muzzle twitched in a sad smile and her eyes stung with unshed tears.

No. That was not a memory she'd want to recall right now. Nor the relaxed and contempt expression said fox had worn... She pressed her eyes tightly shut in an attempt to suppress the image. It would never do to lose the control on her emotions like this in public. Not with that traitorous sheep doing about anything to discredit her.

Later, when she was alone in her apartment, she would remember and mourn a friend she better had never made. For his sake more than her own.

She watched the pedestrian without really seeing them. A gazelle, a group of lemmings, a family of elephants, a lone rhino, a herd of wildebeests, a pig with two daughters, three sheep, mice, zebras, buffaloes, gazelles, giraffes, hamster.

All she wanted was to crawl under her blanket and not having to see anyone.

Neither elephant nor rhino tried to talk to her anymore. Therefore, they actually jumped when she spoke.

“Hey, this is not the way to my apartment!” she hadn’t realized this before the words were already out. She had ended he contract with her landlady after handing in her badge, but since there was a three-month cancellation period, she was still free to use it.

“W-well, no. We have order to bring you to a different location; in case the sav… ehm… attacker might search for you there.” the elephant-cow stated carefully, unsure how to address the subject, before her voice turned upbeat, “The order came from the mayor herself.” 

The rabbit wasn’t even sure, if _he_ even knew where she lived, but fell silent once more, ignoring the worried glance that passed between the two animals up front. 

Not her bed then. It didn’t matter either way.

\---

They arrived at a very noble hotel just off to the main train station on Savanna Square. Less than two weeks ago, she would have been overcome with wonder and excitement to such splendor, but today she didn’t register any of it. She realized she had arrived minutes after her peers had placed her in the leisure area of the suite and closed the door after awkwardly stating their good byes and get better soons. 

Getting on her good leg, she pushed the wheelchair angrily against the wall and limped to the couch, where she curled around her injured leg. Judy tried to get comfortable, but eventually ended up punching her pillow for more than just another shape. She really would have preferred a proper punching bag.

Before long, tears streamed down her face, leaving two dark, wet streaks in her fur.

She needed to do something, but what could a tiny bunny officer – no, meter maid – do against the mayor of a city like Zootopia?

Her head snapped up. 

Had she found a solution? No. 

Did she have a plan? Yes, yes she had. 

\---

_How cliché_ , Judy thought, as she slowly leveled herself down onto the balcony below her, suspended by a self-made rope from bed sheets, _but then again, why reinvent the wheel?_

The crutches she had strapped to her back made a not too quiet _tonk_ as the landed on the tiles of her destination. Luckily, the glass door was not locked, granting her easy entrance. Unluckily, this also meant the room was currently hired out. The two rather distracted pigs occupied only a very small space of the room and didn’t notice her slipping past them and out the door, much to the bunny’s relief and utter embarrassment. 

This part of her escape would forever remain unsaid, that much was certain!

Without the guards who had been placed outside her rooms’ door “for her protection”, she easily left via the back door. She knew where she needed to go next, just not exactly where this _where_ was at the moment. She could have gone and looked for it, but this would take much time in her current condition and time was never on her side. Not with the company she would doubtlessly get as soon as her break-out was discovered.

A thought presented itself to her. Yes, that might work out perfectly. She couldn’t help the sly smirk that played on her lips as she used her crutches to lift both feet off the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but Baby is not very fond of naps as of late... 
> 
> I hope to hear your thoughts on the chapter :-)


	5. Chapter 5

The perk of an entire department being run by sloths was that they were just as... the nice thing to say would be “deliberate” with taking their lunch-breaks as they were with their work. Taking advantage of this and a very convenient open backdoor, the small rabbit made her way to the nearest computer. 

“This is not breaking and entering. No, it isn't. Really not. Trespassing, may be. But only on this side of the counter...” Judy mumbled reassuringly to herself. She was not a criminal, but the slow decrease of morals was something she needed to come to terms at another time. Actually she was pretty sure she knew whom to blame for. 

“Dumb fox.” she whispered fondly. 

Thinking of him was not as painful now as it had been before. Being active with a goal had improved her mood tremendously. There was no way she would give up with so many options still available. Nick had to be out there somewhere. If Bellwether had caught him, she would have seen it on the news by now. Nothing would prove the mayor's point more effectively than live-broadcasting the hunt and capture of a savage predator.

The system of the DMV was fairly simple, probably to speed up the processing as much as possible. She shuddered to think how much longer it might take them to check a license-plate otherwise.

HB-051-986

She entered the car registration number quickly, only to wonder if the system could handle the unaccustomed pace. But all was well and she immediately heard a low humming noise following her request.

“Again, not a crime. Just speeding things up...” she renewed her mantra as she pulled the result sheet from the printer

> Finnick Theodore Tiny  
>  Empty Quarter 164  
>  48390 Zootopia – Sahara Square 

She left the building as undetected as she had entered. Aside from the security cameras, of course, but their footage couldn't possibly get her into any more trouble than she was already in. No need to fret over spilled carrot juice.

“Turn left at the next intersection, entering Sunny Lane” a female voice from her ear buds guided her towards the next subway station. For the first time in her life, she truly appreciated Zoogle-Maps' vocal edition for pedestrians. 

She was getting mighty tired of these crutches.

\---

Judy remembered Sahara Square from her days as meter maid. With the sun directly overhead and the Climate Wall n full heat, a mammal had to be very quick on their toes or to be designed by nature to avoid painful blisters.

But nothing had yet prepared her for the desert habitat by night.

“S-s-sweeeet cheeese a-a-and cccccrackers! She barely managed to utter when the train doors opened at her destination, freezing her in the threshold.

Why was it so darn cold?! Was the Wall dysfunctional? While she tried to unearth the few non-agricultural lessons from her school days, a highly irritated kangaroo rat pressed past her; her cheek pouched puffed with irritation. Judy hastily stepped onto the platform.

The address she was looking for was located off-center, sandwiched between the peripheral high way and the industrial part of the desert district. Visitors arriving via train awaited a grand view from the dune the train station was located on. 

The young female gulped in shock. She had expected one of the huge apartment blocks that shot out of the ground to provide cheap living space in an ever demanding metropolis like Zootopia. What she found was a chaotic heap of tents, questionably stable huts, campers and vans.

She did her best to remain optimistic but the thought to have to mostly defenselessly hobble through this darkening maze filled with all kinds of animals... She held her head high and tried to look as intimidating as a young, 2'1” fluffy bunny going on crutches could possibly look.

After what felt like hours, she finally arrived at number 164 and spotted the familiar van, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu. It hadn't been that long ago that she had knocked on this door under pretty much the same circumstances. Therefore, she hopped back a step, just in case the inhabitant decided this time to swing his bat first and ask questions later. Or not at all.

“Get off my pelt, you fu-” sure enough, the deep angry voice of the desired fox threatened her before the door had opened more than a crack. And yet he never finished the profanity, for the word ended in a high yelp of pain and a snarl.

“Finnick!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it is short, but don't worry, the next one will be longer.
> 
> As always, comments are very much appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, chapter 6 is truly chapter 6 ;-)

“Finnick!” with only a second of hesitation, which she used to push the memories of her catastrophic visit at Mr. Mancha's to the back-most corner of her mind, Judy used her crutches to catapult herself through the van's backdoor.

The sharp-tongued fox was reduced to a groaning heap on the dark floor. While she tried to get a coherent response, her eyes and ears satellited to find the source for his condition.

Eventually, her attention returned to the fennec, who finally came around and set up, still dazed and clutching at the side of his neck.

_A shot. Blue on red. A groaning friend under paws. Paws that felt the convulsing muscles under their pads. A deep growl. Teeth._

_“Run!”, her entire body screeched at her, a prehistoric terror taking over her mind, “Fox, blood, death!”_

“Hey!”

The voice snapped her out of the flash-back so suddenly, she would have bolted from the scene if not for the heavy cast on her leg. It had felt so real, her heart was beating faster than it had any right to.

“Woa, what's with you? Damn, what are you even doing here?” he panted, not quite himself enough to bark at her for invading his house. Van. Whatever.

“I was about to ask you the same.” she responded carefully, trying to find the courage to raise her ears, but they seemed to be super-glued to the back of her head. Her eyes never left the tiny paw still resting on his neck.

“Just minding my fuc-” he hastily shut up as his large ears all but vanished behind his head. He took a deep breath.

The rabbit didn't know Nick's friend very well, but the gesture seemed too out of character for him.

“What's wrong with you?”

“'What's wrong with this shitty world?' that's what you should be asking.” he growled, raising his arms in an all-compassing, frustrated gesture, revealing a small box-like object with a tiny orange light. After several seconds, the light switched from orange to yellow.

“What is that thing?” she almost touched the offensive looking object before he swatted her hand away.

“Mind some space, will ya?! T'is is nothing concerning cute little prey like you.” the last statement stung like a bitch slap but it reminded her of her initial business with the small predator.

“Nick...”, the name was no more than a croaked whisper and when it was only met with an derogatively raised eyebrow, she cleared her throat, “He... I have to find him!”

Finnick's eyes lost focus for only a second, before a mask of aggressive indifference slammed down on his features. His answer was a non-committal grunt before he walked towards the dark end of the vehicle. The lack of light probably wasn't a problem for him, yet Judy felt uneasy of her inability to see him.

“Good luck with that.” was the only warning before a paper ball aimed for her face appeared out of the darkness. The sudden movement made her almost lose her balance. Stupid cast!

Upon unfolding, the ball revealed itself to be a much vandalized page of the Zootopia-Central-Newspaper. The front page was almost completely dedicated to a blurry picture of an animal standing on all fours. A predator wearing a green dress shirt.

The photograph was in black and white but she had seen this particular article of clothing too often to forget its color.

A small chair was pushed into her knee pits, forcing her to sit down. It was a little ruff, but she appreciated the gesture.

“Savage Fox: still missing – No One Is Safe!  
ZPD useless” was the issue's headline.

Judy's blood boiled. The ZCN used to be a fact-oriented newspaper but now it was no better than the other gossip rags.

She scanned the following article. It started with an introduction worthy of a horror movie, stated false facts of the violent outbreak among predators, borderline-conspiratorial reasons why 'The Fox' was still not captured and dedicated a whole page to rules for predators in interaction with prey to prevent 'misunderstandings'. The list consisted mainly of avoiding prolonged eye contact, keeping their claws retracted (or short and blunt if that was impossible), refraining from toothy smiles, avoiding populated places during rush hour and so on.

This briefing was as unnecessary as it was discriminating.

Tapping her good foot against the metallic floor, she turned to the next page, which explained in great detail about the 'Predatory Instinct Harmonycator'.

She felt sick. 

As it read, every predator within the city limits had received the black collar she had seen on her host. Noncompliance resulted in coercive measures. There was no way around it.

The collar took the bearer's pulse, the vibration of their vocal cords and could even detect the muscle activity required to raise the flews into a snarl.

The paper was brutally returned into its prior form and hit the metallic wall with an satisfyingly quiet 'tap'.

She allowed herself a brief moment of self damnation. Yes, all of this was Bellwether's doing, her cruel way of punishing every predator in Zootopia for the hurtful ignorance of a few... a feeling Judy could relate to. But she had realized her mistake and had learned that no mammal was limited to their specie's stereotype. Never the less, her actions had unintentionally helped the mayor's plan.

“Time's up!” she reminded herself and her whole posture straightened up as her mind refocused on the next part of her plan. “I will find him and you will help me.” It was a statement, not a request.

“Sure thing, Snackie.” the vulpes responded and returned to the dim light, “I will deliver you right to the fox's den, where a feral, probably half-starved predator, who will be sooooo happy to see you that he'll bounce on you right away.”, he let his sunglasses slide down his muzzle and looked at her, completely calm, “'Savage-induced suicide', might be a market niche. If executed prop-”

_**“Stop it!”**_ the doe snarled furiously at the minuscule fox. It was a very uncharacteristic sound for a bunny and Judy was sure she had never uttered it before. She would have remembered the dry burn it left in her throat.

“How dare you...!” she didn't even have words for this.

He just smirked at her, showing off his right canine, “I dare think of your safety. If there is any chance of success, we will need proper preparation.”

Her temper calmed and she had to admit he was right. His methods might be tasteless but his honest concern shone through his ruff act.

“'We'?”

“Slip of the tongue.”, he claimed nonchalantly, climbing into the driver's seat, “Close the door and get that bunny-butt of yours on the passenger seat!”

Judy gladly obeyed and adjusted the seat belt to her size, working hard to ignore the stray red hairs.

“Where to?”

“The Market.”

“Oh”, she almost beamed up at her companion in his booster seat as memory hit her, “He really likes blueberries.”

The fox only looked at her with an unreadable expression before hitting the road.

When... IF they found Nick, and he was still in a feral state of mind, he would not be interested in blueberries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who commented to the second post of chapter 5. I'm not sure why it was published twice... but I hope it won't happen again!
> 
> Please feel free to share your thoughts with me :-)


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